Walking Dead Season 3 Spoilers: How Will Rick and The Governor Affect Each Other?

On last night’s midseason finale of The Walking Dead, “Made to Suffer,” Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and the villainous Governor (David Morrissey) never find themselves face-to-face — despite exchanging fire and coming thisclose to an encounter.

Showrunner Glen Mazzara promises that the two will meet at some point during the back half of the season, and they also may end up rubbing off on one another. “It'll be interesting to see the effect that The Governor and Rick have on each other,” he tells The Wrap. “The Governor may use some of Rick's methods and Rick may use some of The Governor's methods to lead their groups.”We can only hope Rick doesn’t go full psycho. As for The Governor? Well, Woodbury’s one-eyed, nothing-left-to-lose leader is poised to unveil his true inner darkness when the AMC hit returns in February.As we’ve already confirmed, The Governor will be around for at least the remainder of the third season. “I think The Governor has a lot of story,” Glen adds. “He's a very nuanced character, he's mercurial, David Morrissey does a fantastic job of exploring him. And one of the things that we do with characters' deaths is ask, What story does it lead to? And right now The Governor's alive because that's the story to be told. I think there's a lot of layers to explore with that character.”The fate of Merle Dixon (Michael Rooker), however, is a bit more up in the air. Glen teases that if Merle survives the faceoff against his brother, Daryl (Norman Reedus), “he certainly has no place in Woodbury. He's been exposed as a traitor. So he would either have to go out on the road by himself or try to integrate into the group.”We certainly can’t imagine him getting chummy with Rick’s peeps, so it’s gotta be either death or a solo mission for good ol’ Merle. The guy is obviously a survivor, though, so perhaps there’s another future in store for the grizzled redneck?Source: The WrapFall in "Like" with us! For the latest from Wetpaint Entertainment, Like us onFacebook or Follow us onTwitter.